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Cinderella Watch: Can Minnesota put together a Sweet 16 run?

Team of the day: Minnesota Route to the Dance: At-large (Big Ten) Credentials: 21-12 (8-10 Big Ten) Signature win: The Golden Gophers nabbed some exceptional victories over the course of the regular season,

None was more impressive than an out-of-nowhere 77-73 defeat of Indiana on Feb. 26 that served as a reminder the Gophers still possess plenty of talent even though they lost 11 of 16 heading into Selection Sunday.

For the purposes of a step forward for the program, Friday's 20-point evisceration of UCLA was also an achievement. It was Minnesota's first NCAA tournament triumph since 1997, and the school's first that wasn't later vacated by the NCAA as part of an academic scandal since 1990.

Andre Hollins is a Memphis-area product who averages 14.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists and has started all but two games this season.

Austin Hollins is a Memphis-area product who averages 10.8 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists and has started every game this season.

The two aren't related (though Austin Hollins' dad is Memphis Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins), but their relative worth to the Golden Gophers is vast.

Both will find themselves tested Sunday by Florida's stingy defense. And both will be relied upon heavily if Minnesota is to go from a free fall to the regional semifinals in a span of a week. Andre Hollins is coming off a stellar 28-point day (on 16 field goal attempts) against UCLA, lending some hope he can replicate the performance against the more defense-oriented Gators.

This team will remind you of: 2009 Arizona

Really, just go ahead and pick a fairly pedestrian high-major team that struggled down the stretch but figured things out at the right time.

In the case of '09 Arizona, the Wildcats lost five of their last six, barely made the tournament as a No. 12 seed and then knocked off fifth-seeded Utah (and got some help when 13th-seeded Cleveland State throttled fourth-seeded Wake Forest) and made it to the Midwest regional.

Minnesota was never quite as questionable a selection as that Arizona team, largely because it turned in a stellar non-conference resume (those Wildcats also had an interim coach in Russ Pennell, who took the job after Lute Olson's retirement). At the same time, Minnesota's performance over the last two months did not do much to suggest any sort of NCAA run was likely.

The Gophers ranked last in the Big Ten in conference games in both turnovers committed and turnover margin. However, they put those proclivities aside against up-tempo UCLA in the opening round and gave it away only 11 times against the Bruins.

Dealing with Florida will be another matter altogether. But if Minnesota can take care of the ball, it will at least give itself a chance.

Names to know: Andre and Austin Hollins are the Gophers' top scorers, but it's also wise to consider the impact of big man Trevor Mbakwe, who has 12 rebounds in Minnesota's round of 64 victory.

The Gophers don't rely on Mbakwe to score as much as they have in the past, but he did become only the second player in school history to lead the Big Ten in rebounding twice. Mychal Thompson, a star in the 1970s, was the other Gopher to pull off the feat.

Minnesota minutiae: With Friday's victory over UCLA, Tubby Smith has won NCAA tournament games at four different schools (Tulsa, Georgia, Kentucky and Minnesota) --- something only three other coaches (Jim Harrick, Lon Kruger and Eddie Sutton) have accomplished. With a victory over Florida, Smith would join Sutton as the only coaches to lead four different schools to the round of 16.